


Visions of a Father

by Buffyworldbuilder, lateVMlover (Buffyworldbuilder)



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25049602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffyworldbuilder/pseuds/Buffyworldbuilder, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffyworldbuilder/pseuds/lateVMlover
Summary: Set in the early seasons of SG-1 but is primarily set in beginning of season 3 of Angel.  This is Cordelia-center as she discovers her father that abandoned her and fled the state isn’t her father.  Instead, it is Jack O’Neill.  I didn’t want to spend time rewatching or reading scripts, so this does not mirror the exact dialogue of the episode of Angel it is centered around (Season 3 Episode 2 “That Vision-Thing”).  This is a short story and has 6 chapters.  I hope you enjoy it as there aren’t enough Cordy-centered stories out there!
Comments: 21
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Angel or SG-1 or any of their characters.

_*****Los Angeles*****_

Angel watched Cordelia on the hospital bed, restraints tying down her hands. It was clear that she was suffering, and he hated to see it. 

“Is there any change?” Wesley asked as he came into the room.

Angel shook his head. “No. It’s like she’s being tormented by things only she can see,” he said.

“They opened up all her visions at once,” Wesley said. “She’s feeling the pain of countless people. It’s enough to destroy her mind.”

“It won’t,” Angel said. “Cordy is too strong. So much stronger than I ever believed.”

Wesley smiled. “She’s a far cry from the girl who used to care only for appearance and stature,” he said.

“She hasn’t been that girl in a long time,” Angel said. “Probably longer than anyone realized. She was the one who fought with Buffy during the Slayerfest. Buffy said she held her own.”

“Her life was so different before she met Buffy,” Wesley said.

“But she didn’t walk away or pretend like everyone else,” Angel said. “She’s a fighter, and she’ll get through this.” He wasn’t going to accept anything else. Cordelia was their heart, the glue that held them all together. They couldn’t lose her.

Cordelia, though, wasn’t really aware that they were there. Instead, she saw a boy age seven being beat to death by his drunk father. She felt every blow that the dad rained down on the poor kid.

Then she saw a girl being raped in an alley and felt the horror and humiliation of the violent act.

A vampire drained a woman walking home alone after working a twelve-hour shift. The poor woman was too tired to even fight.

One after another, the nightmare images hit Cordelia’s psyche. She saw and felt them all in technicolor.

The pain of it was swallowing her whole, and all she could do was cry as the visions overwhelmed her.

****** _Colorado-SG-1******_

Jack was trying to catch up on his mission reports when he heard the sound of a transporter beam, and then Thor was standing in front of him.

“Hey, Thor. What brings you by?” he asked.

“I wanted to congratulate you on the discovery of your offspring,” Thor said.

“Excuse me?” Jack said. “Offspring? I don’t have any new offspring. You know I lost my boy a few years ago.”

“No, I’m referring to your daughter,” Thor said.

Jack pushed a button on his phone. “Daniel, Thor is in my office. Bring the team and tell the General,” he said.

When they arrived, Jack looked at Thor. “So, buddy, do you want to explain how I have a daughter, and how you discovered it?” he asked.

His teammates looked surprised and General Hammond intrigued. “We have your genetic code and periodically scan hospitals and research centers for any uses of it in case it is every used for nefarious reasons,” Thor explained. He looked at the team. “In fact, we have your entire team on file, and we check to see if you have any relatives that might have the genetic markers we need.”

“And you came across someone that matched me? A child?” Jack asked, shocked.

Thor nodded. “Yes, we have a young girl approximately twenty years of age that was admitted into St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles,” he shared. “Her name is Cordelia Chase.”

Jack looked like he’d been punched in the gut. “You’re positive? Her DNA is that same as mine? She’s my daughter?” he asked.

“The markers are positive,” Thor said. “There is no mistake.”

“A child, Jack?” Daniel asked. “Did you have a relationship before your wife?”

“Nothing serious,” Jack said.

“Is it possible you had one of those one-night stands American men often have?” Teal’c asked without judgment.

Jack winced as he considered his age. He would’ve been finishing up his sophomore year of college about to enter or just finish officer training school that summer. “I was still in college back then, so I suppose it’s possible. I was in California for some training at one point,” he said.

“Is the girl seriously injured?” Sam asked Thor.

“She is not exactly injured,” Thor said. “Her records indicate some type of psychosis or neurological disorder.”

“You should go check this out, Jack,” Daniel said.

“I agree,” General Hammond said. “Take a few days and find out what is happening with your daughter.”

Jack felt like he was in a daze as he nodded. Daniel leaned over and told him, “I will make the arrangements, Jack.”

Jack gave him a grateful look and thanked Thor.

“I look forward to meeting your offspring,” Thor said before he beamed away.

“I will have Janet call the hospital and see what she can find out,” Samantha said. “Then I’ll see what I can find out about the woman.”

“Thanks,” Jack said to her. “I’ll head home and grab my bag.”

“Good luck,” Hammond said.

***** _Los Angeles*****_

Wesley was sitting with Cordelia while Angel was out trying to get Wolfram & Hart to end what they were doing to Cordy. A man came in with two others and a woman. They weren’t doctors, so Wesley stood up. “Can I help you?” he asked them.

“I’m Colonel Jack O’Neill. I’ve been told by people who are never wrong that I am biologically related to Cordelia Chase,” he said, glancing at the woman on the bed, who seemed to be whimpering in pain.

“You are?” Wesley asked. “In what way?”

“I am her father,” Jack said. “I believe she was the result of a one-night stand when I was a sophomore in college.”

“Really? Does she know this?” Wesley asked.

“Since I found out a few hours ago, I doubt it,” Jack said. “It’s possible her mother might have told her. Has she mentioned it to you? Are you her husband?”

“Actually, I’m just a close friend. Cordelia isn’t involved seriously with anyone, but she works with me and a few others that are quite fond of her,” Wesley said. He held out his hand. “Wesley Wyndam-Price.”

Jack shook his hand. “These are my friends and co-workers, Dr. Samantha Carter, and Dr. Daniel Jackson,” Jack introduced. 

Wesley eyed Daniel with interest, shaking their hands also. “Would you be the anthropologist Daniel Jackson?” he asked.

Daniel looked startled at being recognized. “Yes, it is one of my doctorates,” he admitted.

“I really enjoyed your piece on the pyramids being used as alien landing pads,” Wesley said. “Did you know that there is an ancient Sumerian text that echoes your words? I didn’t see you reference that one. I called your university to tell you about it, but they told me you no longer worked there.”

Daniel was intrigued. “Really? I am not familiar with much Sumerian,” he said. “I know a bit, but I didn’t realize they had written about aliens. Most of their text dealt with demonic folklore and myths of that nature.”

“Well, if one was to entertain the existence of extraterrestrials, one must also entertain the possibilities of subterrestrials, of course,” Wesley said as if it was a given.

Samantha couldn’t remain silent. “Aliens could be explained by science, but monster myths have no basis in science,” she protested.

“Sam is an astrophysicist,” Daniel said with an easy smile.

“Ah, a true scientist,” Wesley said, smiling unoffended. “Just because you haven’t seen a demon does not mean that demons are not real any more than the fact that aliens might be out there somewhere.”

Jack gave Samantha a look to silence her, and he looked at Daniel. “Sorry about my friend. She’s a sceptic,” he said. No need to provoke the very open-minded friend of his daughter.

“No problem. Most geniuses are until they encounter something that shakes their worldview,” he said. He glanced at Cordelia. “If you want to know your daughter, Colonel, you must be prepared to have your world view challenged.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jack asked, frowning.

“Wes, who are these people?” Angel asked, stepping into the room. His presence seemed to fill up the place, and Jack instantly tensed, sensing a predator.

“Angel, this is Colonel Jack O’Neill, and he claims to have just discovered that he is Cordelia’s biological father,” Wesley explained. “These are his colleagues Dr. Samantha Carter, astrophysicist, and Dr. Daniel Jackson, anthropologist and linguist of some renown.”

“What is a Colonel in the military doing with to other PH. D’s?” Angel inquired, suspicious. “How would you know you are Cordy’s father?”

“I’m in the Air Force with Colonel O’Neill,” Sam explained. “He’s my commanding officer, and Dr. Jackson is a consultant for the Air Force.”

Angel looked at Wesley. “A linguist and anthropologist consulting for the military?” he speculated. “So they’ve either got another Initiative going looking to communicate with the various demon clans, or it’s aliens. Either way, we don’t care. Cordelia is the only thing that matters right now, so I suggest you get the hell out and let me find a way to help her.”

The group looked both shocked and confused by Angel’s casual mention of demons and aliens in the same breath. However, his blunt dismissal of them, outraged Jack. “Listen here, boy, you don’t get to dismiss me when my daughter is lying on the bed obviously suffering!” Jack said angrily.

Angel moved to stand directly in front of him, letting out just a glimpse of the demon in his eyes as cold rage stared back at Jack, making him flinch. As he routinely stared down system lords, this was unsettling. Who was this man?

“Prove without a doubt that you are Cordelia’s father, and you can come back,” Angel said. “As of now, I am her emergency contact person, and I get to say who sees her. We do not need the military messing around things that you couldn’t possibly understand.”

“Jack, let’s get that DNA test ordered,” Sam said, pulling on his arm. This cold towering figure made her nervous, and she didn’t like feeling rattled.

“If you will give me your card,” Wesley said, “I will contact you if there is any change in her condition.”

Jack wanted to protest on principle, but Sam’s warning look made him bite his tongue and nod. “Thanks. I’d appreciate that,” he said. He looked at Angel. “I hope you will not get in a way of the DNA test we will order.”

“No,” Angel said. “If you are Cordelia’s father, she will be glad to meet you. She has a huge heart, and her own parents spoiled her rotten until they got caught by the IRS. After which, they left her destitute the last few months of high school and then disappeared. She hasn’t heard from them since, so if you are her father, don’t bother getting to know her if you plan on flaking, too. She’s had enough heartache in her life already. But if you want to know her, I won’t stand in your way.”

Jack nodded, grateful for that small crumb of knowledge. Then he followed his friends out of the room.

Sam already had a phone out to call Janet, arranging the DNA test.

“That was a strange duo,” Daniel remarked when they got into the evaluator. “The British guy knew my work, so he was obviously well read, yet he was completely comfortable with the idea of alien life as well as demonic.”

“Obviously, a nut job,” Jack said. “Demons?”

“He didn’t seem like a crack pot, Jack,” Sam said. “He seemed intelligent and well-read.”

“Do you know how few people alive read Sumerian, Jack?” Daniel said.

“That guy Angel seemed dangerous,” Jack said.

“Yes,” Sam agreed. 

“He seemed very protective of her,” Daniel said.

“At least he won’t stand in the way of the DNA test,” Sam pointed out. 

“As if he could,” Jack scoffed.

“Janet will get the test done within an hour,” she said. “Or rather, she will send the order for the test to be done here at the hospital.”

“Thanks,” Jack said. He knew that the test would prove what he already knew because Thor would not be wrong about such a thing. He had a daughter who was a grown woman. However, he still wanted to know her.

Inside Cordelia’s room, Angel told Wesley, “Lilah said that the psychic she used to unleash these visions on Cordy will stop them if I get a man out of a prison in a hell dimension.”

“That sounds ominous,” Wesley said. “Any information about the prisoner?”

Angel shook his head. “He has to be a real monster, though, to warrant his own place of torment,” he said. “Not to mention, that Lilah and Gavin would work so hard to get him out.” He walked over to Cordelia and ran his hand on her forehead, stroking her hair. “We’ll stop this, Cordy. Hang in there.” He bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead before turning back to Wesley. 

“Is Fred or Gunn coming to sit with her?” Wesley asked.

“I think Lorne is,” Angel said. “I’m going to need them to see if they can find out anything on this Jack O’Neill. Can you contact Willow? I think it was Army that was in Sunnydale but run their names by Willow and see if she can find out anything about them.”

“I can do that,” Wesley said. “And if he’s not connected and just happens to be the father of Cordelia?”

“Then he’ll have to learn to accept a hell of lot of things about his daughter,” Angel said.

Wesley nodded. “That is true. Her roommate is a ghost,” he said with a small smile.

“Do you really know much about that Dr. Jackson?” Angel asked.

“He was run out of academia for that article he published that claimed the Egyptian pyramids were used as alien pads for aliens long ago,” Wesley said. “He’s not published since then.”

“So he publishes this alien theory and is suddenly a consultant for the military?” Angel said, shaking his head. “You know Willow told Cordelia that the hell god in Sunnydale called something down from outer space to kill the crazies she’d created by her mind-sucking.”

“That’s right! I remember her mentioning it, and how Willow’s girlfriend got mind sucked, but Willow was able to fix her,” Wesley said. He was silent a moment. “Are you thinking that they are involved in the government’s cover up of alien life? That would explain why they’d need someone like Dr. Jackson as he is a gifted linguist.”

“It fits,” Angel said. “I guess if our theory is correct, the guy would be more willing to accept Cordelia’s life.”

Wesley nodded. “The man would have to be very open minded to accept the fact that Cordelia is a direct conduit to the Powers That Be,” he said.

“What if he learns the truth about her and bails?” Angel asked. “Can we allow her to face that type of disappointment?”

“It’s not our decision to make,” Wesley said. “Cordelia is a grown woman who has earned the right to decide who she wants to be close to.”

That may be true, but Angel wasn’t going to stand by and let anyone hurt her. Glancing at her restless form whimpering in pain, he felt a stab of guilt. She was suffering enough.

_*****Chapter End*****_


	2. Meeting Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am writing Jack a bit cool as I see him being very careful in this situation. On the show, he wasn’t one to overreact or be impulsive—he was a chess player. Finding a daughter would shake him, but it’d also give him joy and hope for the future. I’m writing this as if he wouldn’t want to do anything to alienate his new daughter, so he’s a bit restrained. The Angel episodes details are happening off scene for the most part. This short story is about Cordy and Jack and how her visions impact her life and health. As this is neurological and mystical, the Asgards would not be a source of aid in this situation. For those of you who don’t watch Angel, or it’s been a long while, Fred when she first arrived was not the same Fred at the end of the season. She was bit like Willow except even smarter with less tact.
> 
> Also, Buffy is just now being resurrected. It’s another episode or two before Angel and company find out that she was brought back, so they won’t know anything about her heaven experience.

_******The Next Day******_

Angel returned from doing Wolfram & Hart’s bidding, freeing the unknown prisoner from the hell dimension. Although killing the psychic that had harmed Cordelia gave him some satisfaction, it didn’t stop his fear of what he unleashed by helping the law firm of evil. However, he hadn’t had a choice. He couldn’t just let Cordelia suffer like that. Eventually, her mind would have been broken.

When he entered the hospital, Lorne, Fred, Gunn, and Wesley were there. “How is she?” he asked Gunn, who was closest to the door.

“See for yourself,” Gunn said, moving out of the way, so Angel could see Cordy sitting up in bed, chatting with her friends.

“You’re okay?” Angel said, moving to hug her.

“Finally,” Cordelia said, returning his hug. “Thanks to you.”

“I’m sorry it took some time,” Angel said.

“It’s okay. I’m better now,” Cordelia said. 

“Good,” Angel said, relieved. He gave Wesley a questioning glance. “Did you tell her?”

“Tell me what?” Cordelia asked.

Wesley shook his head. “No, I hadn’t had a chance,” he said.

“What’s going on?” Cordelia asked, frowning. “Do I have brain damage from the visions?”

Angel looked startled at the thought. “Well, no. Not that we know of,” he looked at Wesley.

“They’ll be doing a CT scan before she leaves,” Wesley assured them.

“So what’s up?” Cordelia asked.

“A man arrived here yesterday claiming to be your real father,” Angel said.

Cordelia looked stunned. “What?”

“He was in the military, and he said someone he trusted told him about the connection,” Wesley added. “They did a DNA test yesterday afternoon, so you should know something soon.”

“You have two dads?” Fred said. “That’s pretty neat. My dad is wonderful, so to have a second one would be strange and kind of cool.”

“My dad growing up was great,” Cordelia said. “He gave me everything I ever wanted. Then he cheated on his taxes and took off my senior year of high school, leaving me high and dry, running from the IRS. He and Mom haven’t done more than send me a card or two since then.”

“So the idea of another dad would be kind of cool, right?” Gunn said. He would like to have a new dad just show up. It was just him and his sister for so long, and she was dead now.

“The man’s name is Jack O’Neill—he’s a Colonel,” Wesley said. “Willow checked him out, and she didn’t find any flags. He’s got a distinguished military career in the Air Force—lots of medals. They contacted Riley, who said he wasn’t connected to the military morons that tried to experiment on demons in Sunnydale.”

Outside in the hall, the man in question paused as he heard his name mentioned. Sam’s eyes widened. “Demons? That have to be joking,” she said.

Angel heard them, of course, and turned. “We have visitors,” he said.

Jack, Sam, and Daniel stepped into the room. When Jack saw his daughter up and talking, he felt relieved. “She’s better?” he asked Angel, who nodded.

“Yes, she is,” he said.

Jack stepped toward the foot of the bed, pausing as he looked at his daughter fully. Her eyes connected with his, and he was floored. Even with her obvious exhaustion, she was beautiful and intelligent. He could see in her eyes, though, a great compassion. “Hello,” he said.

“So you’re the guy claiming to be my father,” Cordelia said, looking him up and down. “That’s really strange and kind of cool. Did you get the DNA test results yet?”

Sam stepped forward. “Yes,” she said, handing Angel an envelope. He gave it to Cordy, who opened it and read the results.

“Wow, so you are my real dad,” Cordelia said after she read. “That’s kind of freaky. I should be used to freaky by now, and that still surprises me.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack said. “I’m Jack O’Neill—two l’s. It’s great to meet you. I would’ve met you sooner if I had known you existed.”

Cordelia gave him a searching look, seeing only sincerity and regret in his gaze. The hopefulness and tinged of fear, though, was what caused her to relax and give him her beaming smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Jack,” she said.

Jack blinked at the brilliance of the smile, glancing at Daniel who looked awe struck, murmuring, “Wow, that’s some smile.”

Cordelia’s smile got even wider at the compliment. “Thanks. I get it from my mother,” she said. She looked at her friends. “These are my friends. Angel, Wesley, Lorne, Gunn, and Fred.”

“I met Angel and Wesley yesterday,” Jack said, looking at the strange group. “These are my friends, Sam Carter, and Daniel Jackson. They work with me.”

“Dr. Carter is an astrophysicist,” Wesley explained. “Dr. Jackson an anthropologist and linguist of some renown.”

Fred’s eyes got wide. “Golly, I’ve read tons of articles of yours, Dr. Carter,” she said. She stepped forward and held out her hand. “My name is Winifred Burkle, but people call me Fred. I used you as a source in one of my papers. I was working on my own Ph.D. before I got sucked into this portal in my library. Angel rescued me from Pylea, the place I was at for five years, just recently. I was going to be a physicist.”

The group had various reactions to her babble-fest. Cordelia rolled her eyes while Gunn and Lorne looked amused. Wesley looked concerned and was gauging the visitors’ reactions. Angel was resigned, waiting for their visitor’s reactions. Since Fred could explain things with science, she wasn’t much for discretion or tact.

“Is she crazy?” Sam asked, looking at Angel.

“Well,” Angel started to answer.

“She’s a bit,” Cordelia said. “But she’s not lying. Her experience has made her a bit batty. I’m surprised she came to see me. She’s been cooped up in her room since we got back, writing equations on the wall like a mad scientist.”

Jack knew that he had to proceed carefully, or he’d risk alienating his daughter. He didn’t care if she believed in flying blue monkeys. He gave his second in command a pointed look as he knew she was about to argue or probe. “Glad that you got back to Earth safely,” he said, diplomatically.

Daniel was busy looking at Lorne in fascination. At first, he thought the man was one of those weird Hollywood actors who never took off the costume, but the more he looked at him, the more he suspected the man wasn’t wearing make-up. Finally, he couldn’t stay silent. “Excuse me, Lorne. Where exactly are you from?” he asked.

“Oh, he’s from Pylea,” Fred said with an easy smile. “His demon kind rule that dimension and treat humans as cattle. They actually called us cows! It took me a few years to get the shock collar off and flee to the mountains, but it was better than being a slave.”

Lorne sighed in resignation. “Fredikins, you really should try not to be so free with the information as the military on this planet are not know for either their tolerance or understanding,” he warned. He gave the visitors an anxious look. Was he about to be arrested and subjected to those military experiments Cordy told him about?

Jack held up his hands. “Hey, any friend of my daughter’s is a friend of mine,” he said. “We don’t judge, do we, Daniel?”

Daniel looked like an eager puppy. “Of course not!” he said. “I do have questions. So Pylea is a demon dimension or are you an alien from another planet?”

“Not an alien,” Lorne said. “I actually am a demon—an empath demon.”

“When you sing, he can read your future,” Cordelia said. 

“Really?” Daniel asked, fascinated.

“He’s got this club called Veritas that demons go to sing, and he reads them,” Cordelia explained.

Sam couldn’t stay silent any longer. “There’s a real demon bar in this city? Seriously?” she asked, her incredulity obvious.

Lorne nodded. “Yes. It’s not far from Skid Row,” he said. “Humans are welcome there. No violence is allowed. The Furies did a little spell for me, so if any demon tries to harm a human, they get a magical slap down.”

“Magic?” Sam asked.

“Yes, magic is real,” Fred said eagerly. “I didn’t believe it at first, but if you consider the first rule of—”

“Fred, not the time,” Angel said. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. They were being way too calm about this. He glanced at Wesley, who seemed disturbed also. “Can I talk to you?”

Wesley nodded and stepped out in the hall. “They seem very accepting,” Wesley observed.

“A bit too accepting, don’t you think?” Angel said. “I don’t like it. The military doesn’t respond this way.”

“Dr. Carter didn’t believe anything, which isn’t too surprising as she is a scientist,” Wesley pointed out.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Fred is very brilliant after all,” Angel said. “This guy better not hurt Cordy.”

“He’s her father, Angel. He has the right to know her,” Wesley said. “He seems to be a stand-up guy. I think we should give him a chance.”

Angel. “Fine. But I’ll be watching him,” he warned, feeling disgruntled. They were taking Fred and her words too well. Hell, they were taking _Lorne_ too damn well—something was off about the trio.

They stepped back in to hear Fred and Sam talking in such an advanced scientific way that they couldn’t really follow.

“So what exactly is wrong with you?” Jack asked his daughter.

Cordelia exchanged a look with Angel, who looked at Wesley. Wesley looked resigned and nodded while Angel shrugged. They saw Lorne and heard Fred’s babblefest; they might as well go for broke.

“The world is older than you think. . .” Wesley began. 

When he finished, the visitors had various expression on their faces. Jack looked grim while Dr. Carter was incredulous, and Daniel was excited.

Before Sam could say a word, Jack said, “Excuse us a moment.” He knew his second-in-command so well, and he grabbed her arm and led her outside the room with Daniel trailing.

“Sam, I need you to bite your tongue and for once only listen,” Jack said to her.

“But sir—that’s insanity in there. They’re obviously suffering from some serious delusions,” Sam said. 

“You don’t know that,” Daniel said. “There are countless writings about those sorts of things that we all dismissed as myth.”

“If what they’re saying is true, there’s a serious foothold situation on this planet, and that’s impossible. We would know,” Sam countered

“I don’t know anything for sure and neither do you,” Jack said. “What I do know is that my daughter believes every word, and I’m not going to say a word to discourage her from wanting to know me. If you can’t keep your mouth and doubts to yourself, then I don’t need you here.”

“No one believed my paper, Sam,” Daniel said. “I was laughed out of academia, but I wasn’t wrong. The pyramids really were much older than we previously believed. Who’s to say they are wrong? If that’s not make-up, Loren does look like a demon of some kind. The girl, Fred, obviously knows her science. I could barely follow her.”

“She is incredible brilliant,” Sam admitted. “Her theories are intriguing. If she finishes her degree, she’d be a great fit for SGC.”

“So can I count on you to keep your skepticism to yourself?” Jack asked Sam.

Sam nodded. “Okay,” she said. She didn’t want to mess anything up for Jack.

They went back into the room. “Sorry about that,” Jack said. He walked over to his daughter. “Now that we’ve heard about the things that go bump in the night, I’d like to know what this has to do with you?”

“You should lock the door,” Cordelia told Gunn. She looked at Angel. “Show them, Angel.”

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

Cordelia didn’t want to get to know a father who was going to bail on her. She was being so blunt right now because she wanted to find out what he was made of. If he wasn’t going to believe her or was too scared, she didn’t need to know him. “I’m sure,” she said. “Either he’s going to stick around or he’s going to run away. Either way, we’ll know.” 

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jack said stubbornly.

“I hope that’s true. I met Angel in Sunnydale, my home town. One of my classmates was the chosen one—the vampire slayer empowered to fight demons and kill vampires. I got dragged into slaying my junior when she kept having to save my life,” Cordelia said. “Buffy was not really my friend, but I started dating her best guy friend. We got along okay. Angel and she were very close and helped us. He has something a bit wrong with him that makes it so he and Buffy couldn’t be together. He’s a vampire cursed with a soul. One moment of happiness with Buffy, and he reverts back to the psycho vampire Angelus, who killed my teacher, and he tried to kill all of Buffy’s friends. Buffy sent him to hell once when he tried to destroy the world, but the Powers that Be sent him back after several months—to him it was years. Time moves differently in hell dimensions. Now he’s trying to atone for his past wrongs here in L. A. Wesley was Buffy’s Watcher for a while, but he sucked at that job. Now we all work at Angel’s detective agency, helping the helpless. I’m Angel’s conduit to the Powers. They send me visions of people who need help, and we help them.” Pausing for breath, she looked at her father to gauge his reaction. Surprisingly, he only looked slightly startled as he gazed at the vampire in question.

“He’s a vampire?” Jack asked, looking at Angel. “Like lives in a coffin and turns in a bat?”

Cordelia laughed. “Not exactly. He doesn’t turn into a bat or sleep in a coffin, but they do heal quickly,” she said. Then she turned to Angel. “Show them.”

Angel vamped out on them, causing both Jack and Sam to reach for their side arms that they didn’t actually have—no weapons allowed for personal leave. Feeling foolish, Jack forced himself to relax. 

“Fascinating,” Daniel said, stepping closer to get a better look.

Jack looked at Sam, who was shaken. Were they actually telling the truth?

Angel relaxed, and his face went back to normal. “Yes, I’m a vampire, but I don’t hurt humans. I drink animal blood only,” he said.

“So vampires do actually drink the blood of humans?” Daniel asked, intrigued.

“Yes,” Angel said.

“But they look entirely human?” Daniel probed.

“When a person is drained of their blood and fed a vampire’s blood,” Wesley explained, “they cease to be human. A demon takes up residency, and their soul goes onward.”

“What? To heaven?” Samantha asked, skeptically.

“For some. For others, it’s hell,” Wesley said.

“So heaven is real?” Jack asked. 

“Well, we know hell is as Angel has been to one hell of torment. Buffy went to one that used humans as slaves and rescued a bunch of people,” Cordelia explained. “There’s a gateway to some kind of hell in my home town that whack jobs are always trying to open.”

“If hell is real, then heaven has to be,” Gunn said. “My sister was an angel, so I know she went to heaven.”

“Crosses hurt vampires, so there’s so power in religious icons,” Wesley explained.

“Let’s get back to you and these visions,” Jack said, trying to direct the conversation a bit. He didn’t want to get into a religious debate even if he liked the idea of his boy being in such a place.

“So first there was Doyle. He was Angel’s first partner, and he was vision boy,” Cordelia said. “He died and passed them on to me. He was half-demon and better equipped to deal with the mind shattering headaches that come with the visions.”

“An enemy of ours used a psychic to open up Cordy’s connection,” Angel explained. “She was flooded with visions.”

“All those people suffering all over the place,” Cordelia said, looking haunted as she thought about it. “It was like being trapped in a living nightmare. Not only was I getting all their emotional pain, but each vision felt like someone was taking a hammer to my head.”

Jack felt sick and angry. His daughter’s life had been in danger for years, and she’d been fighting some secret war. Now that she was grown, she was still fighting it. It shouldn’t be so, but he could see that she wasn’t about to stop. “Are you okay? Is there damage?” he asked in concern.

“Now it’s just a dull ache. The visions have stopped thanks to Angel,” Cordelia said.

“They’re going to run a test to see if there’s any damage,” Wesley added.

Jack turned to Angel. “What did you do?” he asked.

“I worked a deal with Wolfram & Hart, the law firm responsible for what happened to her,” Angel said.

“What kind of deal?” Jack asked.

“I had to bust someone out of a hell,” Angel said.

“Seriously?” Daniel asked.

“He was burning in a cage, so I’d call it hell,” Angel said.

“Burning and still alive?” Daniel asked, fascinated.

“Sort of. I wanted to save Cordy, so I didn’t ask any questions,” Angel said grimly.

“You probably wouldn’t have liked the answer,” Gunn said. “No tellin’ who you let loose, or what he’s capable of.”

“I’ll be watching him,” Angel said. “I’ll take care of it.”

There was a knock on the hospital door. Daniel moved to unlock it and let the nurse in.

“We need to take Miss Chase for her scan,” she said. “The orderly will be here in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Cordelia said to her. Then she left again.

“We’ll see you soon, Cordy,” Gunn said, leaning over to give her a hug.

“Take care, sweetie,” Lorne said, kissing her cheek.

“Bye,” Fred said with a cheery wave. She stopped at Sam’s side. “If you want to come to the Hyperion, I can show you some equations I’ve been working on that explains how the portals work.”

Sam’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Jack, who shrugged. “I’ll meet you at the hotel later,” he said.

Daniel looked at Lorne. “Do you think I could go to your bar? I’d love to meet more demons,” he said. “It would be great to see how the languages differ from those I already know.”

“Danny, that’s not a good idea,” Jack said, frowning. They should’ve brought Teal’c, but he was off planet visiting his son. Daniel was prone to find all kinds of trouble.

“He would be perfectly safe,” Lorne said.

“Come on, Jack,” Daniel cajoled.

“Lorne’s trustworthy,” Cordelia assured him.

“It’s not that,” Jack said. “It’s just that Daniel is prone to trouble. If something bad is going to happen, it will happen to him. Kidnapping is the most prominent.”

Cordelia grinned. “Wow. We must be like soulmates or something. I’ve been kidnapped more than once, and once in high school when my boyfriend was kidnapped by this vampire, I fell through a rotted floor and got impaled,” she shared. 

Jack winced. “Gee, another one,” he said. It seemed fate had plans for him to spend his twilight years worrying constantly about those closest to him.

“I’ll go with him,” Gunn said.

“Thanks,” Jack said. “Don’t let any demoness around him because he’s like catnip to women.” Normally, alien women, but Jack didn’t add that.

This time even Angel smiled. “He sounds like Cordy’s ex from high school—Xander,” Angel said. 

“I’ll see you later,” Jack said. His team left and most of Angel’s. 

“Are you staying in town long?” Wesley asked.

“A few more days,” Jack said.

“I’ll be back later, Cordy,” Angel said. He said goodbye and left Cordy alone with Jack.

“Is it okay if I stay and find out about your scan results?” Jack asked.

“Sure,” Cordy said.

The orderly came in. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“I guess,” she said. She looked at Jack. “So I’ll see you?”

“I’ll be waiting right here,” he assured her. He had so much to process, but nothing was going to drag him away from her side.

Cordelia gave him a warm smile as she was pushed out of the room. Would he back when she returned? She had a feeling he would. Learning about her world hadn’t chased him off, and she was more than a little surprised. Cordy couldn’t imagine her Sunnydale father taking in all that info and not freaking out, laughing, or trying to commit her. 

Was it weird that her father had two doctorates working with him? Did the military work with geeks? It was a bit strange. As she wheeled into the x-ray room, she wondered what kind of man her father was and if he would actually stick around for more than a minute.

***** _Chapter End*****_


	3. Becoming a Dad

***** _Caritas*****_

Daniel couldn’t believe it. He was at an actual demon bar, and he was not dreaming. Nor had he fallen into some alternate dimension. There were so many different species here that he wished Sam was here to help him record all of it. When he took out his phone to take a picture, Lorne grinned.

“I love what you’re feelin’, sweet cheeks, but none of the customers would appreciate their pictures taken,” Lorne advised. When Daniel looked dejected, he laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll answer all your questions.”

“Do you think any of them would talk to me and let me get a sample of their dialects?” he asked eagerly. Just the thought of getting the demon languages on paper made him giddy.

“I am sure I could get a few of the friendlier demons,” Lorne said. “But you know the Watcher’s Council that oversees the slayer has tons of these records. Wesley’s told me all about it.”

“Really?” Daniel asked. “Do you think he’d share some of his books with me?”

“He’s a decent guy, and he is wicked smart. I think he’d be glad to share it with you,” Lorne said. A demon with horns got on the stage and began to sing. “I’ll have to give this fella a reading after he’s done singing.”

“You actually do that? You can see things about people when they sing?” Daniel asked. 

“I’m what you call an empath demon. Singing allows people to be wide open with their emotions,” Lorne explained. “It’s hard to have pretense when you’re singing the words to _YMCA_.”

“So you can tell their future?” Daniel asked.

“Not exactly. I can normally tell a lot about the person’s character and the path they are on and should be on,” he said. “I can help guide them if they are at a crossroads or need to know if something good or bad is coming.”

“And that’s different from what Cordelia does, right?” Daniel wondered.

“She’s a bona fide seer, which means she gets direct visions of people in trouble in the moment,” Lorne said. “Cordy detects the present, not really the future. I can tell people if something good is going to happen if they stay on their current path or if something bad is coming. But it’s not fool proof.”

“That’s fascinating,” Daniel asked. “Are all demons from your dimension gifted this way?”

Lorne gave a snort. “My world had no music at all. It’s a joyless, miserable place,” he said. “I wouldn’t know if other demons could do this from my dimension as I’m the only one of my kind here. I come from a warrior culture, and I was a lover, not a fighter.”

“I can see how that wouldn’t have been easy,” Daniel said with sympathy.

The demon finished his song, and Lorne stood. “It wasn’t, but I’m here now. Life is good,” he said. “Excuse me.”

Daniel watched as he spoke to the demon who had just finished speaking. Would he want to know what could be said about him? It would a fascinating experience, and he could write about it.

When Lorne came back, he handed him a drink. “Here. This one is safe for human consumption,” he said.

“I’m afraid to ask,” Daniel said as he accepted the fruity drink.

“You don’t want to know,” Lorne said with a grin.

After taking a sip, Daniel asked, “Do you think I could sing? I’d like to see how you work.”

“Of course,” he said. “Go over there to Pete, my guy in charge of the music. He’ll help you pick a song and tell you when it’s your turn.”

Daniel gave him a nervous grin and finished his drink as he realized that he’d never actually sung in public. It was a good thing Jack wasn’t there, or he’d probably chicken out.

Lorne chuckled when Daniel began to sing the rarely sung song “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver. However, after a few notes, Lorne lost his smile and stood up.

Daniel Jackson’s aura was blinding—Lorne had never seen such a purity of spirit. The beauty of it brought tears to Lorne’s eyes. His path would take him where no normal human would ever go. Lorne was stunned at how clear this man’s path was. “Well,” he murmured. “Our Cordy is in for a ride.” 

***** _Several Hours Later******_

Cordelia’s scan came back okay, and she was refusing to spend another night in the hospital. After finding out that Sam was staying at the Hyperion and Daniel would join her, he decided to go with his daughter.

“Daniel is joining up with Sam, so I can stay with you if that’s okay,” Jack said to her.

“Sure. I have an extra room, and my roommate won’t mind,” Cordy said. “Is Daniel trained to protect himself?”

Jack grinned. “Well, he’s trained, but Daniel attract trouble like bees to honey,” he said. “He’s normally too busy trying to befriend the potential enemy in front of him to ever see the one about to stab in his back. If I or one of my other team members aren’t there to watch his back, there’s no telling what trouble he could get into in.”

“My friends from high school and maybe even Angel would tell you that I’m sort of like that,” Cordy said with a sheepish grin. “Not the trying to befriend the enemy bit, but always getting nab by baddies. Once during my senior year, I was in a limo with Buffy, the original slayer and my boyfriend at the time’s best friend, when we got nabbed by a bunch of whack jobs who had this slayerfest competition. They thought I was Faith, the other slayer, and they hunted us like wild game.”

Jack’s eyes widened at her tale. “Seriously? What did you do?” he asked as he pushed her wheelchair down the hall of the hospital.

“I mostly kept cover behind Buffy, but I got a few licks in,” Cordy said. “Buffy and I were in competition for homecoming queen and on the way to the dance. It kind of got ugly. The fighting for our lives together helped clear the air between us.”

“A fight for your life is good for that,” Jack said dryly. “I wish your life had been more ponies and rainbows than fights and death.”

“Oh, it was,” Cordy assured him, tilting her head back. “My parents pretty much gave me anything I wanted. Things didn’t go bad until my sophomore year when the slayer moved to Sunnydale. I blame Buffy—totally.”

“Now she’s the vampire slayer, who is empowered to fight vampires and demons, right?” Jack said, trying to sort through all the information he’d been given.

“Yep. She attracts dark things,” Cordelia said. “I tried to play dumb like all the sheep in Sunnydale, but I had too many encounters with bad things. I couldn’t ignore it, and then I got involved with Xander, her best guy friend. It sort of sealed things for me.”

“I’m glad you left that place,” Jack said. “Even if L. A. isn’t exactly safe either.”

“It’s got it’s baddies, but it doesn’t have a hellmouth that demons are always trying to open,” Cordelia remarked. Jack helped her into the taxi they’d called. He noticed she looked a bit somber.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Buffy died in May closing the hellmouth in Sunnydale. Some demon god needed to use her sister’s blood to open up all dimensions,” Cordy shared. “They’d gotten to Dawn to start the ceremony before Buffy could save her, so the portals were opening, and all these demons were started to tear down our reality. Buffy knew her blood was the same as Dawn’s, so she jumped in Dawn’s place, closing the portal.”

Jack’s eyes connected to the taxi driver, who was listening to their conversation, and said, “That does sound like a great movie plot,” he said loudly. 

Cordelia snorted. “Yea, totally,” she said. “Too bad I gave up my acting career.”

The driver realized that they were talking shop and went back to ignoring them.

“The Buffy character sounds like quite a hero,” Jack said.

“She was,” Cordelia said. “I was always so jealous of her. Xander was half in love with her, I thought, but it was Willow, not Buffy, he cheated on me with.”

Jack frowned, angry at the thought of some boy hurting his daughter. “Where is this guy now? I’d like to have a little chat with him,” Jack said.

Cordelia grinned. “Are you feeling overprotective? That’s sweet!” she exclaimed. “But no need. Honestly, I think it was a hellmouth thing or the PTB making sure I left Sunnydale. Willow was crazy in love with Oz then, and now she’s a lesbian. She and Xander were never a couple. If I hadn’t fallen through the rotten floor and gotten impaled, I might’ve gotten over it. But nothing says pain like a rebar through the gut.”

“What?” Jack asked in dismay.

Looking chagrined, Cordelia apologized. “Oops, sorry!”

Jack shook his head. “I’m sorry. Sorry that I didn’t know about you and sorry that you have been through so much,” he said.

“That’s okay. My life is good,” she said. “I love helping people and wait until you see my house. It’s so cute!”

When they arrived at the house, Jack agreed that it was definitely appealing. However, when the front door opened on its own, he grew alarmed. “Does that always happen?” he asked.

“Oh, that’s just Dennis, my roommate,” Cordy said. “This was the house he lived in with his mother, but she took her mothering to an insane level.”

They walked through the door, and Jack looked around for the roommate. “I don’t see your roommate,” he said, confused.

“Well, you can’t actually see him ‘cause he’s dead,” she said breezily. “His mom murdered him by bricking him into the wall over there.” She pointed, and Jack looked. What the hell?

“Are you saying your roommate is a ghost?” he asked incredulously. He didn’t know what was worse. That she had a ghost in her house or that she said it so matter-of-factly.

Cordelia nodded. “Dennis, this is my dad, Jack. I just found out that my dad was not my real dad, but Jack here is. He visited me at the hospital,” she said.

Jack looked around for the ghost. “Where is he?” he asked.

Cordelia laughed. “I don’t see dead people, so I don’t know exactly,” she said. “Dennis, can you make us some tea?”

Then they heard the cabinets open in the kitchen, so Jack walked toward the sound, the light went on in the kitchen. When the cabinet closed, and tea bags floated down and then the teapot was filled with water by invisible hands, he realized his daughter wasn’t pulling his leg.

“I think tea isn’t quite strong enough,” he muttered. Then the fridge opened, and a bottle of wine was floating in front of him. “Uh, thanks, Dennis. That would be nice.”

Cordy stood next to him, watching Dennis prepare their drinks. “His mother was a poltergeist, haunting this place. We were called in, and that’s how we found Dennis’ body. Although I put his bones to rest and we cast out his evil mother, he didn’t want to go. The place was super cheap, and I could actually get out of the roach infested place I was in. It was a win-win. He’s a great roommate!”

“So ghosts can choose to be here or go on somewhere else?” Jack asked, feeling out of his depth in so many ways.

“I think so,” Cordelia said. “We know for sure that hell is real—there’s different ones. It’s only natural that heaven is too. Ghost that have violent ends or are gone before their time sometimes linger here on Earth.”

When they sat down with their drinks, Jack thought about what he should share about her brother. “You know you had a half-brother, Charlie, who died before he was ten,” Jack said.

Cordelia looked pained. “Really? I’m so sorry!” she said, reaching and squeezing his hand. “What happened?”

“He found my service weapon and accidentally shot himself,” Jack admitted, still feeling the guilt of that act.

Horrified, she exclaimed, “Oh God! That’s so awful!” Then she reached out and pulled him in for a hug. Jack was surprised by her immediate outpouring of compassion on his behalf. “I bet he knew where you kept the key to your gun box.”

Jack looked at her in surprise. “How did you know it was locked up?” he asked.

“Well, you strike me as the kind of guy that would be super responsible,” she said. “My parents had guns in the house, and Daddy kept them locked up. But I knew where the gun key was. I could’ve got in them at any time, but I knew it would be stupid to play with a gun without Daddy around. How old was Charlie?”

“He was nine,” Jack shared.

“That’s old enough to know what he was doing was wrong, Jack, so I hope you don’t blame yourself for that,” she said.

“If I didn’t have the gun, he’d still be alive,” Jack said.

“Maybe,” Cordelia said. “But you can’t know that. Maybe would’ve died riding his bike or crossing the street. Some people are fated to die young, Jack. We don’t always know why. Why do I get visions of some people who need help but not all? There’s obviously a grand design out there. If heaven is real, maybe a quick death would’ve been better than something else that might’ve happened to him down the line. You just don’t know.”

Jack found himself once more gazing at his daughter, dumbfounded. She didn’t hold him responsible. Was she right? Was Charlie’s death really not his fault?

Seeing nothing but compassion and acceptance in her eyes, he felt a weight he’d been carrying for a long time lift away. His daughter gave him the absolution his wife couldn’t. He had a feeling that this was the first of many things his daughter would do for him. He really felt like a dad again, and he knew that Charlie would’ve really liked Cordelia.

Thinking about that, he sipped his wine, a smile on his face as he listened to his daughter talk.

***** _Chapter End*****_


	4. Drawing Closer

_******The Next Day******_

When Jack woke the next morning, he felt so good. It was strange. He sat up in bed, unsettled. As his feet hit the floor on the side of the bed, he paused, trying to understand what was different. The pit that he carried with, reminding him of his mistakes, his lost son and wife was absent. The lightness that he’d felt last night was still there.

Smiling, he stood and grabbed his clothes. When he opened the door to his daughter’s guest room, he didn’t hear any noise. Cordelia must still be asleep, so he went to the bathroom to shower and shave. As he got ready, he thought about his amazing daughter. How was he going to convince her to leave her dangerous life behind? Should he? She was helping people at tremendous cost to herself, and he was proud of her. However, it was clear that her visions were costing too much. Jack had to find a way to help her.

Two hours later, Cordelia led him to the Hyperion hotel where the rest of his team was staying. Although he’d tried to convince her to stay home and rest, she insisted that she would be fine. His superiors would say she came by her stubbornness naturally.

When he saw Daniel, he was in the Brit’s office, happy as a pig in mud, surrounded by a bunch of books.

“Good morning, Danny. Did anyone try to kill you last night?” he asked, giving his buddy a fond grin.

Daniel’s eyes lit up. “Jack! You won’t believe these books that Wesley has!” Daniel gushed.

“I bet there something,” Jack said. 

“They are. He’s got so many demon languages that I didn’t even know existed,” Daniel said excitedly.

Wesley smiled at the scientist as he had become quite fond of the man in a short time. He was incredibly brilliant. “He is quite gifted,” he said.

“I am aware,” Jack said dryly.

“Wesley said he had one or two I could borrow,” Daniel said with a happy grin.

“That’s generous of him,” Jack said. He looked at Wesley. “Do you think I can talk to you and Angel?” I’m very concerned about my daughter’s health with these devastating visions.”

“Of course,” Wesley said. “You do know, though, that what put her in the hospital was a fluke? An enemy tapped in and opened up all the visions at once.”

“I get that,” Jack said. “But who is to say such a thing won’t happen again? Or what about all the normal visions? She told me that she’s been getting them more and more intensely. There’s been some physical evidence besides the horrible headaches.”

“Really? I don’t think she’s been very upfront about that,” Wesley said with a frown. “I’ll go get Angel.”

After he left, Jack looked at Daniel. “Danny, what do you think? It is possible the Asgards could do something for Cordy?” he asked in a low voice.

Daniel considered it. “Well, they do have advanced technology, especially in the biological area,” he said. “It won’t hurt to ask.”

“I think when we get back to SGC, I’m going to talk to the General about getting permission to share what we do, so we can see if she’d let me help her,” Jack said.

“Well, you might want to see if Thor could help,” Daniel said.

Cordelia came in and heard Daniel’s last remark. “Thor? Who’s that?” she asked.

“He’s a friend of ours,” Jack said easily. “He has access to some advanced technology. If he could do something to help your visions be less painful, would you let him try?”

“Well, I don’t know this guy,” Cordelia said doubtfully. 

“How about you think about it? Is it okay if I talk to him about your visions?” Jack asked.

Cordy shrugged. “I don’t care as long as no one tries to lock me up for experiments or anything,” she said. “I’m not a one-trick pony.”

Angel and Wesley joined them. Samantha and Fred along with Gun were right behind them.

“Jack, you wouldn’t believe the science Fred has been sharing with me that explains the portal she was sucked into,” Samantha said.

“You betcha,” Jack said, not wanting to encourage her but not wanting to be rude.

“Samantha is so smart,” Fred said with a grin. “I can’t believe the math that she knows! It’s like I’m back at the university!”

“It’s nice to finally find someone that can understand what Fred’s writing on those bedroom walls,” Gunn said.

“Sam thinks we could probably open a portal using our combined brain powers!” Fred said.

Angel, Cordy, Gunn, and Wesley all said, “No!”

SG-1 was taken aback by their response. “I wouldn’t do anything to risk Fred,” Sam assured them.

“No, it’s just Pylea was not an experience we care to repeat,” Wesley said quickly.

“Yes, they do treat humans like cattle,” Fred acknowledged.

“But I could be in the sun,” Angel said.

“And they did make me queen,” Cordelia said with a smug smile.

“My daughter, the princess of a demon dimension,” Jack said with a proud smile. “That’s totally going into our family Christmas card!”

Cordelia laughed, appreciating her father’s sense of humor—a trait her other dad didn’t really have.

“So you wanted to speak to us?” Angel prompted.

“Yes, I was wanting to talk to you about Cordelia’s visions and the toll they’re taking on her physically,” Jack said.

“Jack said he has this friend named Thor, who’s some science whiz,” Cordelia explained. Samantha gave Jack a sharp look, and he shrugged.

“Cordy’s visions aren’t natural—they’re supernatural,” Wesley said.

“Yes, but the human body is a natural phenomenal with certain limitations,” Samantha said. “Science can often extend what the human body is capable of doing. For example, stroke victims learn to access different parts of the brain when other parts are damaged.”

“My first conduit to the Powers was Doyle,” Angel shared. “He didn’t have the problem Cordy has because he was half-demon.”

“Is there a way we can make Cordelia half-demon?” Gunn wondered.

“What?” Jack asked, horrified. “You’re not turning my daughter into a demon!”

“That’s a bit specist, Dad!” Cordelia scolded with a disapproving frown.

Jack couldn’t believe the irony. He was friends with freakin’ aliens, and his daughter thought he was prejudice! He glanced at Daniel for help.

“Jack isn’t xenophobic,” Daniel assured them. “He just doesn’t want to see you change yourself in such a drastic way without exhausting all other possibilities.”

“Demons are a bit ugly,” Fred added.

“That’s true,” Cordelia agreed. “Doyle’s demon face was pretty freaky.”

“So it’s okay if I try my friend before we do any cross-species experimentation?” Jack asked, looking around at the Angel team.

Cordelia nodded. “Sure, Dad,” she said. She glanced at Angel. “Okay, boss?”

“As long as your people don’t cause any problems for my people, I don’t care,” Angel said. “But I will consult the Powers to see if they can help you if it comes to it.”

“That’s good,” Cordelia said. “Back up plan is good.”

“As long as you give me a chance to talk to my friend first,” Jack said, wanting it to be clear. When everyone nodded, he relaxed. “Great.”

“So do you want to go do the tourist thing with me today?” Cordelia offered. “You’ve not spent much time in Los Angeles before, right?”

“I spent a weekend here before you were born,” Jack reminded her.

“I haven’t,” Daniel admitted. “I did a day at UCLA once, but I never got to do any of the tourist stuff.”

“I can take you around,” Cordelia suggested.

“I want to stay and do some work with Fred if she doesn’t mind,” Sam said. She was totally going to get the brilliant woman to work at SGC before she left.

Unsurprised, Jack smirked at her—he knew her too well. 

A short time later, Jack, Cordy, Daniel, and Gunn embarked on a walking tour. Then they took the subway to Hollywood Boulevard, where Cordelia dragged her father into a few shops to buy some souvenirs. There was a photo booth at one point, and they did various poses. The four of them crammed in for some shots. Then it was Cordelia with Jack and Daniel—her in the middle. Then it was just she and her dad. They split the pictures, sharing the photos amongst them

“So I’m starved,” Gunn said. He’d not been down this way in a few years, and he was really enjoying showing the two around. Jack’s alertness kept him from worrying too much about Cordy as she was mostly as oblivious as Daniel. More than once Gunn had to stir Daniel away from a potential threat while Jack smirked in amusement. The man was such a combination of intelligence and innocence and genuine goodness. At times, he reminded Gunn a bit of Fred, but there was no instability in this man. Gunn could tell that he’d seen a lot and knew both loss and joy.

When they went to lunch at a great Cuban café that Gunn recommended, the group broke into two conversations as Gunn and Jack started telling battle stories. Of course, Jack kept his to the non-classified tales while Gunn talked about his time before joining up with Angel. Daniel was fascinated by Cordelia’s stories of Sunnydale and kept piling her with questions. It’d been too long since Cordelia had the focused attention of an intelligent man. Gru had adored her, but he wasn’t one to ask probing questions. Daniel was a bit of a dweeb like Wesley, but there was something about him that made her feel comfortable with him. Somehow, she knew he was a guy she could trust.

For Jack, the day was perfect. He got lots of pictures with his daughter at various tourists’ spots. Then they went to Santa Monica Pier after lunch, taking a nice stroll. Eventually, Jack got her on the Ferris Wheel.

“This has been such a fun day,” Cordelia said, holding onto the stuff bear he’d won her before they got on.

“It really has,” Jack said, feeling a contentment that had escaped him since his son passed. This daughter could never replace the son that he lost, but her words and her presence were definitely filling a void he hadn’t realized that he had. “Thanks for spending some time with me.”

“I’m happy that you came,” Cordelia admitted. She’d been so close to her other dad, and when he’d skipped out with her mom, it’d broken her heart more than she’d ever admitted to anyone. How do you go from being your daddy’s princess to forgotten and abandoned so quickly? She didn’t want to be hurt or disappointed again by a father, but she couldn’t help but be hopeful. Jack seemed so sincere and eager to know her.

“I’m going to leave tomorrow and speak to my friend about helping you. It may take me a few days to track him down as he’s a busy guy,” Jack said.

“That’s cool,” Cordelia said. “I’ll be okay. The guys will take care of me.”

Jack knew that they would be he couldn’t help but worry.

His concern never left even after he said goodbye and was flying with his friends the next day. 

***** _SGC*****_

Jack, Daniel, and Sam wasted no time apprising Hammond of what all they’d witnessed while visiting his daughter.

“We have got to get Fred working for us, sir,” Samantha said. “The girl’s I.Q. might be higher than mine. Her years locked surviving in a hell dimension have taken a toll, but I’m confident that with some time and counseling she will be fine.”

“That’s an incredible story,” Hammond said. “And you believe their claims?”

“Well, she showed me the math, sir,” Sam admitted.

“And I met Lorne, who is a demon from that dimension,” Daniel added. “He runs a club where people—mostly demons—come to him for readings. He’s an empath demon.”

“Did you sing for him?” Jack asked with a grin. When Daniel looked embarrassed, he laughed. “What did you sing?”

“John Denver,” Daniel mumbled.

“What did he tell you?” Jack asked, curious.

“Well,” Daniel hesitated. 

“It must’ve been good,” Jack said, nudging Sam. “Look at his face.”

“Dr. Jackson, did you receive some hint of your future?” General Hammond asked. “Should we be concerned?”

“No, sir—no concern. It’s just a bit much,” Daniel said. “But he did say that my aura made him cry—it was so beautiful.”

“Your aura?” Jack asked. “That’s a real thing, too?”

Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know everything, Jack. I guess, it’s how certain gifted people can get a read on people—learn about their character,” he said.

“That’d be a useful gift to have in my field,” Hammond observed.

“Is that it?” Jack prodded, sensing there was more.

Looking decidedly uncomfortable, Daniel admitted, “He said my future was glorious and that my path was so fixed that I would never need to worry about straying from it. Dark times would come and challenge me, but I would never falter.”

“Wow,” Jack said with a low whistle.

“Nothing specific about what would bring these dark times?” Hammond wondered.

Daniel shook his head. “No, Lorne said his gift didn’t work like that, but Cordelia’s did,” he said.

“Imagine if we could have your daughter working with us, Jack,” Hammond said.

“She’s helping save lives on Earth right now, sir,” Jack said. “It means something to her.”

“But it’s incredibly dangerous,” Daniel said. “You wouldn’t believe some of things she faced just in high school. As much as her team tries to keep her safe, I don’t think they have the resources we have.”

“That’s true,” Jack acknowledged. “But I can’t push her into that. We’re just getting to know each other.”

“What if you told her about what you’re doing here?” Daniel suggested. He glanced at the general. “We can get her to sign the right papers and bring her in as a possible asset, right?”

“If that’s what Jack wants,” Hammond said, looking at his 2IC.

“Of course, I’d love to have her close,” Jack said. “She’s magnificent. Beautiful, strong, brave, and utterly selfless. And she may be even more tolerant than Danny-boy.”

“She called Jack specist,” Daniel shared, grinning.

“Her roommate is a freakin’ ghost for crying out loud!” Jack said. “I don’t think me not wanting my beautiful daughter to become half-demon makes me prejudice!”

Teal’c finally made an appearance. “Forgive me for interrupting. I have just returned,” he said.

“Well, old buddy, you got a lot of catching up on,” Jack said. He got out his phone and pulled up a picture of Cordelia. “I have a grown daughter.”

While Jack started sharing with Teal’c, Hammond leaned over to Carter. “I will contact the Asgards and see what they can do and then talk to my bosses about Cordelia.”

“Just make it clear that we don’t want to cause them any trouble,” Samantha said. “We need a mind like Winifred Burkle’s here. She’s wasted on the demon-squad, sir. Imagine having someone not only every bit as capable of me but open to possibilities my education might not see.”

“But she has no advance degrees,” Hammond pointed out.

“Sir, I’m telling you it won’t be a problem. She was nearly through her graduate program. We can get her evaluated and brought up to speed in no time,” Samantha said. “You know I never have enough time to do all the science projects that need my attention here due to my commitment to SG-1.”

Hammond did like the idea of having someone as smart as Carter on hand.

“She’s a real sweetheart,” Jack added, having been half-listening as he showed Teal’c his pictures.

“Fine,” Hammond said. “I will add her to the list of talking-points when I make my calls.” He rose, dismissing them.

“I am most happy for you, Colonel O’Neill,” Teal’c said, smiling at his friend. “I look forward to meeting her.”

Jack grinned, excited at the thought of his daughter being near. Of course, she might never agree to it, but it was nice to think about.

***** _Los Angeles*****_

Cordelia felt a bit lonely after taking her dad and his friends to the airport, so she drove back to the Hyperion to hang out with the guys and Fred.

It looked like Angel was pacing while Fred looked guilty sitting in between Gunn and Wesley.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Angel looked relieved to see her. “What’s going on is your dad’s trying to steal Fred away from us!” Angel said.

Cordelia couldn’t help but grin at his dramatics. Normally so stoic, it was unusual to see Angel worked up unless someone’s life was in danger. “Stealing her from us? Seriously?” Cordelia asked. “She’s not a toy car, Angel. She’s a grown woman, and she’s not our prisoner.”

“It seems that Dr. Carter wants to have Fred go to Colorado Springs and work as a consultant for the Air Force,” Wesley explained. “She said she’d help her get her degree and everything.”

“I don’t want to leave you guys. You’re so great to me,” Fred said quickly.

“But that sounds like an amazing thing, Fred,” Cordelia said. “You and Sam had a great time writing on your bedrooms walls yesterday, right?”

Fred pushed up her glasses. “Well, yea. We had to go into the room next door ‘cause we ran out of wall space,” Fred said, casting a guilty glance at Angel.

“Angel, how about you and me go into your office and discuss this?” she asked.

Angel nodded and followed her into his office. “We can’t let Fred leave,” Angel said. “She’s not ready.”

“Angel, we all like Fred a lot, and I love having another girl around even if she is a bit of a freak like Willow,” Cordelia said. “But this sounds incredible for her. You can’t hold her back. You have to encourage this.”

“We don’t know those people,” he said stubbornly. “It’s the government. You heard what happen to Buffy when the military got involved in the supernatural.”

“Willow herself checked them out, Angel,” Cordelia said. “Besides, that’s my dad you’re trying to distrust. A guy with a stellar military reputation. A guy who has been nowhere _near_ Sunnydale. He knew nothing about the supernatural until he met us.”

Angel sat down in his chair, resigned to lose another argument with Cordelia. Did he ever win any these days?

She sat down, too. “I spent a lot of time with Jack when he was here, Angel. He’s so great. Didn’t you sense that?” she asked.

“I didn’t really get to spend much time with him, but he seemed okay,” Angel admitted. “He handled our reality quite well, which is impressive in itself.”

“Do you think his friend can help me?” Cordelia asked.

“I’m going to get you help, Cordy,” he assured her. “I promise.” He hated to have her suffer—it wasn’t right. She never asked for this.

“I’m okay,” Cordelia said. “But it’d be kind of nice to be able to help people without having to suffer so much.”

Angel winced at the stab of guilt he felt. “I know. You didn’t ask for any of this,” he said.

“Hey, I don’t regret a day, Angel—you know that,” Cordelia said. She couldn’t imagine her life now without the guys. Helping save people, making a real difference in the world gave her a sense of purpose that acting never could. It was time she faced that—acting was not in her future. Saving people for monsters and keeping her guys on their toes was what she did.

Now she had a father who wanted to know her and help her. Life was pretty great, and she would make sure that Fred had a great life, too.

_*****Chapter End*****_


	5. Unlocked Potential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am in no way an expert or even that knowledgeable of Thor or the Asgards, so if you are, I ask you to grant me some grace and just BELIEVE what I write! 😊 It is fanfiction, after all.

_*****Two Days Later*****_

Jack was in his office doing paperwork when he was transported without warning to the Asgard ship. Since he was sitting down when they beamed him, he fell over without the chair under him. He stood up and spotted Thor. “Thor, thanks for getting back to me,” he said.

“I came as soon as I could,” Thor said. “Your progeny is well?”

“Yes, she is,” Jack said, giving him a proud smile. “She’s wonderful, Thor. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

Before he got another sentence out, he beamed Cordelia to the bridge.

“What the hell!” Cordelia exclaimed as she looked around in a panic. When she saw her dad, she relaxed. “Dad? What’s going on? How did I get here? And why is E.T. standing there staring at me?”

“Thor, you can’t bring civilians up here! Not without at least asking!” Jack complained.

“You said that you could not wait for me to meet her,” Thor said, giving him that unblinking stare.

Jack sighed. “Yes, I know, but that’s a figure of speech—I mean I want you to meet her. After she got clearance—she’s not a member of SGC, and she knew nothing about alien life or my job dealing with them,” he explained. He gave his daughter a wary look.

Cordelia started laughing. “So you work with aliens? I work with demons, and you work with aliens! That’s too funny! I bet you’ve worked to keep the planet safe, too, huh?” she asked.

“Well, a few times. We have some enemies out there that use humans as hosts,” he said.

Another bark of laughter from Cordelia. “Ha! I knew it!” she exclaimed.

“Your father has to done much to aid my people also,” Thor said.

“This is Thor, High Commander of the Asgard, one of the most advanced races we’ve encountered,” Jack said. “Thor, this is my daughter, Cordelia.”

“It is an honor to meet the progeny of Colonel Jack O’Neill,” Thor said.

Cordelia realized something. Well, she realized two somethings. “So I’m on a spaceship?” she asked, looking around. She walked toward a window and gaped at the stars. “This is incredible! I can’t believe it. Xander and Willow would die from geek jealousy if they knew!” 

“This isn’t something you can ever share with your friends,” Jack said.

“That’s not something you can make me promise since you didn’t actually ask me to come here,” she pointed out. “If I want to tell my friends, I will. It’s not like we don’t have our own secrets.”

“It’s national security, Cordelia. It’s a criminal offense,” Jack warned.

Cordy wasn’t going to argue, but she changed the subject. “So the Thor who might be able to help me is your alien friend?” she asked. Then she looked alarmed as a thought occurred to her. “He’s not going to _probe_ me, is he?”

Jack’s mouth fell open in shock at her question. “What? Of course not!” he exclaimed. “He has advanced technology and can do things we are years, possibly centuries, away from doing.”

“What does that mean? I am unfamiliar with this probing,” Thor said.

Cordelia’s eyes widened as she realized that her comment would now require an explanation. “Huh, well, it’s just a stereotype associated with aliens ‘cause people used to say little gray aliens kidnapped them and did experiments on them—probing,” she explained.

“That would be my brother Loki,” Thor said.

Jack winced. “How about we not confuse her by talking about your brother,” he said quickly. “So Cordelia has been touched by some higher power that gives her visions of people in need of help.”

“Really?” Thor asked. “That is fascinating.”

Cordelia didn’t think the alien looked fascinated, but little gray men weren’t in her wheel house.

“The problem is the visons are causing her physical problems. Not only does she get extreme headaches, but she’s been getting other physical side effects,” he explained. He looked at Cordelia encouragingly.

“Well, once I had a vision of a demon clawing someone, and I had actual claw marks on my back,” she shared.

Jack looked sick and angry. “Tell me that doesn’t happen all the time?” he asked.

“Not really,” she said with a shrug. “But the more visions I have, the more physical side effects I am having.”

“I would have to examine her,” Thor said.

“How about you do that while I talk to my people and get the paperwork for her to sign? You didn’t give me a chance to do that,” he said.

“Okay,” Thor said. He beamed Jack away before Jack could say anything.

Cordelia laughed. “You don’t waste time, do you?” he asked.

“No,” Thor said.

Cordelia liked the little guy. “I can appreciate that,” she said. “I also am grateful for your help. If you can’t help me, that’s okay, too. Angel will come up with something.”

“Who is Angel?” he asked.

“He is my boss and friend—he’s the champion of the Powers That Be,” she explained. “They are the ones who gave me the visions to help guide him.”

“And he helps people who are getting attacked by demons?” Thor inquired. She nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “He’s a vampire with a soul, so he has reflexes and strength that a normal human does not.”

“I have never met a vampire before,” Thor said. 

“I don’t think he’s ever met an alien before either,” she said with a grin.

Thor touched somethings on his console. Four people suddenly beamed into the room.

“Holy shit!” Gunn exclaimed, looking around with wild eyes.

Fred looked terrified and clung to Angel, who saw Cordelia and relaxed.

“You beamed up all my friends? My dad’s not going to like that,” she said, laughing. Thor didn’t seem like he was perturbed by her remark.

“You’re okay?” Angel asked. “This creature didn’t hurt you?”

“No, this is Thor. He’s the friend of my dad, Jack told me about,” Cordelia explained. “Thor, that tallest guy is Angel. The girl is Fred. The guy in glasses is Wesley—he’s our book guy. And that’s Gunn.”

“Welcome,” Thor said. “I apologize for my moving you here without warning, but I could not be sure which one of you was Angel. I have never met a vampire before, and I wanted to meet one.”

Angel stepped closer. “That’s me,” he said. “What exactly are you? I’ve been on this Earth for over two hundred years, and I’ve never seen a demon like you.”

“Angel, I don’t think he’s a demon,” Wesley said.

“He’s not,” Cordelia said. “He’s the commander of this alien race called the Asgards.”

“Alien?” Fred asked, her eyes wide as she looked around. “We’re on a spaceship!”

“Oh my God!” Gunn said, his eyes wide. “A spaceship? No freakin’ way!”

“Good Lord,” Wesley murmured as he saw the stars in the nearby window.

“Isn’t it cool?” Cordelia said. “Dad works with aliens, helping to save the planet all the time!”

“Wow,” Angel said. “I’m not sure what to say to that.”

“How about damn! And holy shit!” Gunn exclaimed, still wide eyed.

“Dad was telling me that I couldn’t tell you guys ‘cause of national security. I was going to have to sign some forms,” she said smugly.

“I bet he’ll be making all of us sign those forms,” Wesley said.

“So does that mean Dr. Carter works with aliens, too?” Fred asked.

“Dr. Samantha Carter?” Thor asked.

“Yes, do you know her?” Fred asked.

“Yes,” he said. “She is very brilliant and has helped my people on more than one occasion.”

“Oh,” Fred said in a daze. Her mind was busy with thinking of the science and her talks with Dr. Carter.

“Great,” Angel muttered. “I can’t compete with aliens.”

Cordelia snickered. “No, I don’t think you can,” she said, looking at Fred, who was wondering around looking at everything she could. Fred would now jump at the chance to work with Dr. Carter.

“You exist on blood?” Thor asked Angel.

“Yes,” he said. “Vampires feed on humans, but I only drink animal blood.”

“Why is that?” Thor asked.

“It keeps the demon in me in check and feeding on the blood of humans is wrong,” he said.

“Can you not drink blood without feeding on a human?” Thor asked.

“Yes, but that’s not the point—I can’t allow the demon to see humans as prey,” he explained.

“Interesting,” Thor asked.

“So you probably should send them back home before they uncover more state secrets,” Cordelia said to Thor. 

“Do you wish your father to be here or one of them to stay while I do some tests?” Thor asked.

Cordelia looked at Angel. “I can stay,” he said.

“All right,” Thor said. Then the other three disappeared in a flash of light.

“He doesn’t like wasting time,” Cordelia said to Angel, a big grin on her face. “This is the craziest night.”

“Come. I will take you to our medical bay,” Thor said.

Cordelia didn’t really care if the alien could help her. Just knowing that her dad considered an alien a friend was awesome enough for her.

***** _SGC*****_

Jack just finished informing the general about his daughter and Thor’s actions.

“We aren’t responsible for what the Commander does, Jack,” Hammond said. “We will have her sign the papers.”

“I don’t know if she’ll keep it a secret from her friends—they bleed together, sir. You know those kinds of ties are difficult to circumvent,” he said. “I don’t want her to end up in prison because she can’t keep a secret.”

“She is a potential asset Jack. We’re not going to imprison her,” he said. “Just get the paperwork ready for all of them. If she tells them, you can just have them sign.”

Jack was relieved but not surprised by the general’s attitude. He nodded. “Okay. Thanks,” he said.

“You know, though, Thor might not be able to help your daughter,” he pointed out. “Are you prepared for that?”

“No,” he said grimly. “I’m not prepared for my daughter to either spend the rest of her life suffering or become half demon.”

Hammond watched him leave, hoping Thor would be able to help his daughter. It was bad enough missing out on so many years, and now he could do little to aid her. This had to work.

***** _Asgard Ship*****_

“We have figured out why your visions are so painful,” Thor said. 

“Well, I know why—the visions,” she said.

“That’s not exactly the reason,” he answered. “It’s because the human brain isn’t equipped to access that much of the brain. The human brain utilizes less than ten percent of its potential. Your brain isn’t having visions because your brain is using more. Instead, the visions are being forced inside by those Powers you mentioned. Think of it as a square peg constantly being pushed inside a round whole.”

“That makes sense,” she said, glancing at Angel, who nodded.

“And Doyle, my first vision guy, his brain was half-demon, so it was able to better handle the visions,” Angel said.

“I could not know unless I got a chance to examine his brain,” he said.

“He’s dead, so you can’t,” Cordelia said. “He kissed me and passed the visions on right before he sacrificed himself to save a bunch of his kin.”

“A noble sacrifice,” Thor said. 

“So do you have a solution to help her?” Angel said. “I think if we made her half-demon that would work.”

“That idea seemed to freak Dad out a lot, though,” Cordelia said.

“Once he saw that it wouldn’t change you, he’d adapt,” Angel said confidently.

“I can do a minor adjustment of your brain’s compacity,” Thor said. “It should allow you to handle the visions without such trauma.”

“Really?” Cordelia asked in surprise.

“Will there be side effects to that?” Angel asked.

“Her brain capacity will become much greater than other humans, so her intelligence will increase,” he said.

“I will become a supergenius or something?” Cordelia asked.

Thor nodded. “Yes, your brain will be able to detect patterns and almost precognitively see what happens before it happens,” he explained.

“I’ll be like a real psychic, not just a seer?” she asked.

“You will be able to predict through mathematical computations what is about to happen,” he said. “It is not a true psychic gift.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad,” Cordelia said. She looked at Angel. “What do you think?”

“I think messing with your brain is a bit on the scary side,” he said. “You should discuss it with your dad.”

“Can you bring dad here? And maybe his brainiac friends—Dr. Carter and Dr. Jackson,” she said. “They can help with the brain aspect.”

Thor walked over to the nearby console and pushed some buttons. Then her dad, Daniel, and Sam appeared in the room.

As they were more used to this happening, they took the change in scene in stride. Of course, they noticed Angel’s appearance.

“For cryin’ out loud!” Jack complained. “You brought Angel up here? National security, Thor! Do you understand the concept?”

“I wished to meet a vampire,” Thor said simply.

Cordelia grinned. “But he didn’t know which one was Angel, so he also beamed up Fred, Gunn, and Wes,” she said.

“Of course, he did,” Jack said in resignation.

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about her keeping a secret,” Daniel said with a smile.

“That’s what I said!” Cordelia said, laughing.

“We can keep a secret,” Angel said.

“You will have to sign some non-disclosure forms,” Jack said.

“I am a vampire with no social security number,” Angel said.

“Oh, you have one of these,” Cordelia said. “Remember, we bought one from that guy, so you could get an official P. I. license.”

Jack groaned. “Don’t say those things in front of me, please!” he begged.

Cordelia laughed. “Dad, lighten up,” she said. “It’ll be okay.”

“Does Thor have a way to help you?” Samantha asked.

“Yes,” Cordelia said. “He said he can turn me into a brainiac like you guys, and my brain will be able to handle the visions.”

“Really?” Samantha asked, intrigued.

Thor repeated what he had said to them about the human brain and how he could help Cordelia.

“So you can just tweak her brain a bit, and she just be able to handle the visions?” Jack asked, relieved.

“Yes,” Thor said.

“It will change her, Jack,” Samantha said. “It will make her smarter than Daniel and I combined.”

Cordelia’s eyes widened, and she got anxious. “But I’ll still be me, right?” she asked.

“We can’t know how you’ll react,” Samantha said.

“She’ll still be her,” Jack assured her. “I had a bunch of knowledge downloaded into my brain once, and I was still me—just more.”

“I’ll be almost like a psychic,” Cordelia said. “Able to make predictions based on math.”

“You’ll be an incredible asset to SGC,” Daniel said, smiling at her.

“You want me to work with SGC?” Cordelia asked Jack in surprise.

“How about we walk and talk about this?” Jack said, glancing at Angel, who was glaring at him.

Cordelia tucked her arm in her dad’s, and they walked away from the rest of them, down a hall. The ship was massive, so there was a lot of ground to cover. 

When they made it to another open space, Jack stopped and looked at her. “Cordelia, I hate that I didn’t know you all these years, and I want to be close to you,” he said.

“I feel the same way,” she said.

“But my life is consumed by the Stargate program,” he said.

“Stargate? You have a gate to the stars?” she asked, confused.

“I’ll explain later,” he said. “I explore other planets, basically. We look for technology that Earth can use and make deals with other alien people.”

“Really? That’s so cool!” Cordelia said.

“I’d love to have you on my team,” he said. “We can work together.”

“You want me to leave Angel?” she asked, realizing what he was getting to.

Jack nodded. “I know that he does important work, but you can help the Earth on a global scale working with me and my team,” he said.

“I don’t know, Dad,” Cordelia said, undecided.

“Will you think about it?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said. “Angel doesn’t like change, and he’s upset that Fred might leave. We’ve not even known Fred that long.”

“It’s not like you won’t get leave and can’t see him again—you can,” Jack pointed out.

“What about Dennis? I can’t leave Dennis,” she said. “I’m all he has.”

“He’s a ghost, Cordelia. I think he’ll be okay,” Jack said in exasperation.

Cordelia got a stubborn look on her face. “He’s my friend, and I don’t just abandon my friends ‘cause they’re biologically challenged!” she insisted.

Jack couldn’t believe that he was having this conversation, but he pushed ahead. “Well, can’t you figure out a way to bring him to your new home in Colorado?” he asked.

Cordelia considered. “I can’t, but Wes might be able to. Or Willow,” she said. “She’s gotten pretty good with the magic.”

“There you go,” Jack said with a smile. “We’ll just figure out a way to get Dennis to haunt your new house.”

“I’ll think about it, Dad,” she said. “I could just become part-demon, and nothing about me would change.”

“You’d be _part demon_!” Jack said. “That’s a big change.”

“What? You’d love me less if I was a demon?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“No, of course not!” Jack said quickly. “I just don’t want you to change your actual species when a slight tweaking of your brain could solve this.”

“Doyle was half-demon, and he was okay,” she said. “Of course, his demon side was really ugly.”

“Do you want to risk that?” Jack said, pressing his advantage.

“Not really,” she admitted. She considered her options. “I think I’ll wait to let Thor help me. I don’t want to make a decision when I might not be me. I’m going to go see Lorne.”

“What? You want him to see your future?” Jack asked.

“He puts people on their path, Dad. I need help,” she said. She turned to go back to Angel and Thor, and Jack followed. At least she was giving it a real consideration.

“Thor, can you take us back home? I need to think about this a bit. Come get me tomorrow, and I’ll let you know what I decided,” she said. She turned to Jack. “Okay, Dad?”

“Fine,” he said.

“I think you’ll be just fine,” Daniel told her, giving her a reassuring smile. “Look at Sam. She’s both beautiful and brilliant—it makes her a very important member of SGC.”

Samantha looked embarrassed at all the attention, but she said smiled. “That’s sweet of you to say, Daniel,” she said. “We’d be happy to have you around no matter what you decide. A daughter of Jack’s is always welcome.”

“Thanks,” Cordelia said.

She hugged her dad and nodded to Thor, who beamed them back to Los Angeles.

“Thor, are you sure this would work?” Jack asked.

“It should,” he said. “However, we have never done anything like this, so there is always a chance of unforeseen outcomes.”

Jack sighed. Great.

***** _Two Hours Later*****_

Cordelia finally got to see Lorne and explained what was going on.

“Do you want to sing for me?” Lorne asked. They were alone in the hotel lobby area as Angel was downstairs, and Fred was upstairs in her room. Wes and Gunn were home.

Cordelia nodded. “I need to know what path is right for me, Lorne. Here with you guys or with my dad in Colorado,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. “Sing a line or two for me.”

Cordelia considered what to sing, and her mind went blank. Then she began singing the “Happy Birthday” song.

Lorne’s eyes widened as she sang. “Dear God,” he muttered. “Stop, Cordelia!”

“Hey, I know I’m not a great singer,” she said defensively.

“No, that’s not it,” he said weakly. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“What?” she asked, offended.

“I meant that I couldn’t take what I was seeing anymore,” he clarified. 

“It’s that bad?” she asked nervously.

“Sweetcakes, I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” he began, “but if you stay in Los Angeles, a darkness will consume you in two short years.”

“Seriously?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so,” he said grim. He’d never seen anything like it. Sometimes, he received inklings or a strong sense of direction. However, Cordelia’s path was covered in suck darkness that it unnerved him.

“Then, I have no choice,” she said in resignation. She took a deep breath and put on a bright smile. “Psychic and seer to the stars!”

***** _The End Mostly*****_

_I have an epilogue to wrap this story up. Reviews are so nice. Thanks!_


	6. Epilogue

Chapter 6: Epilogue

_*****Five Years Later*****_

Jack was waiting to walk his only daughter down the aisle. It was one of the happiest days of his life, and she had brought so many since she’d walked into it.

Fred came up to him, dressed in a pale blue—one of the bridesmaids. “Cordy says she needs ten minutes because her high school friends would never believe that she could get ready on time,” Fred said.

Jack laughed and shook his head. He’d met a few of her high school friends over the years, and they were an interesting bunch. Willow was almost as smart as Fred, but she had actual magical powers. He didn’t believe it until she’d risen another friend from the dead and empowered a bunch of girls to be slayers. That had really pissed Jack off until his daughter explained how desperate the situation had been. His team and Cordelia had been off world at the time, and they were unable to help. Several of the girls, though, had been willing to join the SGC.

He couldn’t believe it had been five years since Thor had kept his daughter from feeling the pain of her visions. Cordelia had waited a few weeks before allowing Thor to help her. She’d went to Sunnydale and asked Willow to move her roommate to the apartment he’d procured for her. Jack had been very surprised when the woman did manage to do such a thing. However, Sam had nearly fainted the first time she’d met Dennis—that’d been a fun day.

Cordelia biggest concern with leaving Angel was leaving him without a seer, so Angel had asked the Powers he served if he could have another conduit and allow Cordelia to use hers to serve the planet as a whole. 

They had agreed, and Angel had asked Willow to track down Oz. When Cordy heard who Angel wanted, she’d been happy, and Jack had helped locate the elusive werewolf who was in Tibet. It hadn’t been easy to convince Oz to get back into the good fight. However, his werewolf girlfriend had encouraged him to help make the world safer for the children they would have some day.

Jack took the news that werewolves were real in stride, especially after he met Oz. He liked the man instantly and found him very similar to Teal’c. The main difference between the two was that music made Oz excited the way _Star Wars_ made Teal’c. Tonight’s wedding was the first time, however, the two had been allowed to meet.

Samantha, though, had to work hard to fight her scientific inclination as she had dozens of questions about werewolves. Cordelia was too impatient to answer them, but she had no bones about introducing Oz to Samantha. Jack had been amused to see how patient Oz was with the scientist and impressed that the man was intelligent enough to keep up with her questioning.

When Cordelia had underwent Thor’s procedure, she’d been scared, insisting that her boys be there. It was strange that his daughter’s closest friends were a British man who knew more languages than Daniel, a former street thug, and a vampire. However, the love and devotion they had for his daughter was obvious. Jack was touched that she was willing to do something that would take her from them, but he had been so grateful for the chance to pull her close to him.

He peeked through the door of the chapel—it was packed with a lot of military. However, several aliens and demons were also there. Her witch friend had done some spell to make demons like Lorne appear more human. Since Lorne was singing, he couldn’t look like his normal green self. There were a few guests who weren’t in the know.

Jack grinned as he saw the groom—he was a bundle of nerves. Jack knew the man well enough to see the signs even from a distance.

“Cordelia,” he called out. “Come put your husband-to-be out of his misery!”

The door opened, and Fred greeted him. “She’s ready,” Fred said.

Jack whistled as he saw Sam in her bridesmaid dress. When she blushed, he laughed. “You look great, Sam,” he said. It had been great to see Cordelia embrace Sam.

When Thor finished tweaking Cordelia’s brain, it had been difficult. He didn’t tell them ahead of time, but he had infused some DNA from the Ancients into her, helping her process her new abilities. Those first few months, she’d clung to Samantha, who had the easiest time handling the changes in Cordelia as she spoke geek fluently.

Then Willow had raised Buffy Summers from the dead, and Cordelia had somehow known how traumatized Buffy was over the event. She’d convinced Landry to get Faith released from prison to guard the hellmouth and then had talked Buffy into moving to Colorado with her. Buffy had jumped at a chance to move Dawn out of the hellmouth. Cordelia’s ability to decipher events was extraordinary. Combined with her real seer powers, she instinctively knew what choices would be best for others. Buffy, though, was suffering from PTSD and didn’t fight Cordelia’s strong as steel will.

Willow and Tara had joined them a semester later. When Xander and Anya’s wedding plans fell apart, he had also. Jack had been happy that his daughter had so many friends to help her adjust to the changes in her. Between Willow’s constant trip down memory lane and Xander’s jokes and sniping, Cordelia hadn’t allowed the changes in her to turn her into a pod person.

The few months that Buffy had been in Colorado without her friends, though, had worked to bind her and Cordelia. Both girls were so different from the way they’d been in high school that a real friendship between the two had flourished. A few times the Sunnydale crew went back to their hometown to help Faith fight until they’d managed to close the hellmouth permanently. Buffy refused to abandon it to Faith entirely.

Now, she was Cordelia’s maid of honor, and Cameron was her escort. The two had been dating the past year.

“She’s ready,” Buffy told him.

“You look beautiful,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she said. She turned back to Cordelia, who was radiant in a sleeveless white dress with a long silk train. “But no one compares to Queen C.”

Jack smiled as Cordelia stepped out and took his arm. “You are a vision,” he said. 

“Thanks, Dad,” she said. Finding out that Jack was her father had been the best thing that could’ve happened to her. When Lorne had warned her that staying in Los Angeles would lead to her death, she’d not hesitated to make changes. Letting Thor play with her brain had been the first. That had been a rush as she’d been forced to process so much information. It’d been terrifying and nauseating. Luckily, Sam had helped her. Then Daniel had stepped in. His compassion had moved her and centered like nothing else had. He’d been the one to help translate her visions as she knew so little about the alien field that SGC dealt with. Together, they were able to help end the most immediate alien threats, including Annubis.

Of course, her old friends from high school had filled the void that leaving Angel and Los Angeles had created. The surprising friendship between her and Buffy had given her something else to focus on. Buffy had needed her, and she had needed a project to focus her newfound mental powers on. Both had been surprised to discover a real friendship springing up between them—something that hadn’t really happened in high school.

Her dad led her to the door of the chapel, and everyone stood as the “Wedding March” began to play. She’d dreamed of her wedding day since she was a little girl. It was a bit disappointing that her mother wasn’t there as she’d disappeared from Cordelia’s life completely when her parents evaded arrest. However, she had so many friends and Jack that her world was full of people who loved her. 

As she walked with her father toward her awaiting groom, she couldn’t believe it was actually happening. She’d calculated the odds of getting married, but she had still been surprised when he’d proposed. Having lost and found his first wife only to lose her again, Daniel had not been a sure thing.

Jack placed his daughter’s hand in his best friend’s and then moved to stand next to Cameron. Playing the dual role of Father-of-the-Bride and Best Man wasn’t easy. However, it was worth it as he wasn’t about to miss either. Teal’c stood on Cameron’s other side and flashed Jack a warm smile. They were both incredibly happy for the couple.

As she walked down the aisle with her father, she looked at all the smiling faces staring up at her. All her boys were there to support her. Gunn, Wesley, Lorne, and Angel stood with Spike on the first row. Xander was behind Spike, who had been restored to them fully a few years ago. Giles sat next to Xander, giving her a proud look. She flashed the men a bright smile, glad that the years hadn’t destroyed the bonds between her former Angel Investigation team and her high school friends.

Both Jack and Sam had been happy to see Daniel fall in love again. It’d taken three years before either of them realized how close they were. It had been obvious to everyone else that the two belonged together. Cordelia managed Daniel in a way that Jack had never been able to. Her newfound intelligence allowed her to keep up with his rambles, and she had the compassion to match his own. They were a unit long before they were a couple, and Jack was able to step back from SG-1 and allow her to join the team with Cameron as the leader.

Eventually, Buffy and Willow joined SGC. Fred and Willow became an unstoppable duo as they worked under Sam while finishing their degrees. Recently, both had finished their doctorates and were now full consultants for the science department of SGC.

Tara, Willow’s girlfriend, was a first-grade teacher at the base’s elementary school. Cordy calculated that Willow would be proposing to Tara by the end of the year. Naturally, she hadn’t been surprised when Xander had asked Fred to marry him last month. The two had been dating the past year, and Cordelia and Daniel’s wedding planning had pushed Xander to try engagement again. Fred was as different from Anya as a person could be, and he knew that he could trust in their future in a way he never could with his and Anya’s.

Cordelia gazed into Daniel’s eyes, joy so strong that the words of the minister barely registered. He was the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful man she had ever known, and she knew some really great men. His passion for others was only equal to his thirst for knowledge. Although he was a bigger geek than Wesley, it didn’t turn her off. Instead, the new brain Thor gave her appreciated and admired the way his brain worked. His propensity for trouble and being kidnapped was even greater than her own, and she’d became intertwined in his life before they’d even kissed.

Daniel gave her his vows, and her heart melted even more.

“I didn’t realize how lonely I was until you joined SGC and begun to fill all those lonely places. From the moment you joined me at work, you changed my life, and I know I’m the luckiest man in any world,” he said. “As your husband, I promise to love you always, rescue you anytime you need it, and put up with all your friends no matter how strange they may be.”

The audience laughed.

“I will love you no matter what and devote my life to being your partner, your lover, and your best friend,” he said.

Cordelia grinned. “Well, you are already all those things,” she said. “I know that our life is going to be amazing, and I promise to always be by your side no matter what. I’ve known some incredible men, but no one has ever moved me with their compassion and humanity the way you have. You are the best man I have ever known, Daniel, and I am proud to marry you. Neither of us have much blood family, but we will be each other’s family—always. I love you, and I can’t wait to build a life with you. I promise to give you the family you’ve always longed for and to never leave your side.”

She stopped, not remembering the rest. “I think that’s it,” she said. The couple were planning on starting a family right away, and both would step back from active world traveling.

Daniel smiled and took the ring from Jack. The minister spoke some more, and they put the rings on.

Then it was done. They were man and wife.

Daniel kissed his bride, his heart full to overflowing.

Their friends cheered, and they pulled back, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Now you’re stuck with me,” Cordelia said, smiling widely.

“Lucky me,” he said, kissing her again.

Their friends clapped while Jack said, “Okay, that’s enough. Time to separate!”

Daniel pulled back and grinned at Jack. “Sure thing, Dad!” he said, having been waiting to use that line for months.

The look on Jack’s face caused the newly wedded couple to laugh.

Far above, Thor was watching the nuptials on his screen.

This was good. He turned to his first science officer. “It’s time to commission our new ship. We shall call it Cordelia Jackson in honor of our friend and savior,” he said. Cordelia had saved his people on more than one occasion with her visions, but most importantly, she’d helped him unlock the key to saving their race. 

She and Daniel would have a happy future, and the Asgards would protect them no matter the cost.

***** _The End*****_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this wrap up. I know it’s disappointing to many that I didn’t plan on writing more. However, it actually went longer than I had planned initially. I really liked picturing what would happen next, and I thank you for reading. Review if you want. If anyone would like to write stories about the couple or events I alluded to in this epilogue, feel free. Make sure you send me a message, though, so I can enjoy them, too!

**Author's Note:**

> To refresh: This episode occurs after Cordelia had been made queen of Pylea, Lorne’s home world, and where she fell for the world’s champion Groosalugg, who she called Groo. She left him behind when they returned to Earth, rescuing Fred who had been trapped there for five years. If you watched BTVS and not Angel, Wolfram & Hart is the law firm of evil that Angel fights, and Lilah is the main lawyer who messes with Angel. After the other lawyer, Lindsey leaves, he is replaced by Gavin, who was played by Daniel Dae Kim before he begins his famous role on Lost. Reviews make me SO HAPPY! Take a minute to write one PLEASE!


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